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Strategies & Market Trends : Three Amigos Stock Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sergio H who wrote (8453)	9/7/1998 5:56:00 PM
From: Ditchdigger	Respond to of 29382

Sergio,you should be able to buy it through Waterhouse,and at a cheaper price than I started to buy at<vbg>.... " Airbus to Develop $9 Billion Superjumbo Jet 10.00 a.m. ET (1400 GMT) September 7, 1998 By Christopher Burns TOULOUSE, France - With recent strategic sales coups under its belt, aircraft maker Airbus Industrie is ready to launch its greatest gamble: a superjumbo jet that cost at least $9 billion to develop. The European consortium is putting its money behind the A3XX, which seats up to 650 people in its ongoing attempt to challenge Boeing, the world's top commercial jetmaker. At the Farnborough International 98 air show, which opens today in England, Airbus will seek more companies to participate in the project and spread the risk. There's no scale mockup yet; the air show instead will feature a wind tunnel and other testing. But diagrams show the interior of a cruise ship, with wide staircases, two decks with rows up to 10 seats across, and lower levels for shopping, a gym and sleeping quarters. Philippe Jarry, Airbus vice president for marketing, says the company plans to firm up the plane's design by the end of the year and get it flying by 2003. Up to now, Airbus chipped away at the Seattle, Wash.-based Boeing's dominance with sales of its A310s, 320s, 330s and 340s. But it has no jumbo jet, and the A3XX is aimed at far surpassing the 350-seat 747. "If we're successful in four years with the A3XX, we won't be limited to 50 percent of the market," says Airbus spokesman Alain Dupiech. Other questions exist, such as whether Airbus, a four-nation consortium including the state-owned Aerospatiale of France and Casa of Spain, will be able to restructure soon into a private stock-issuing company that can raise money for expansion. Talks are under way between those companies and partners British Aerospace and Germany's Dasa. For that to happen, said BA President John Weston in Friday's Le Monde daily, Airbus must "satisfy criteria of profitability. ... It's not the case today." Other observers wonder whether the A3XX can be built at an affordable price. "It certainly is a big gamble," said Paul Jackson, editor of the London-based Jane's All The World's Aircraft. While Airbus predicts demand for about 1,400 A3XXs, Boeing officials "don't see a market for a bigger plane right now," said Boeing spokesman Craig Martin. But they're keeping a stretch 747 on the drawing boards, just in case. Past concerns about Airbus' fly-by-wire planes, with a computer between the pilot and the control of the aircraft, appear to have evaporated. Boeing stuck with directly linked controls for thrust and steering until it came out with the 777. Strong Airbus sales confirmed the airline industry's faith in fly-by-wire - used in modern military jets - as lighter and more fuel-efficient. Airbus claims the A3XX's direct operating cost per seat will be 15 percent cheaper than that of the 747. Airbus is hoping for 40 percent risk-sharing, and so far, Jarry said eight European companies and one American firm have signed on for 30 percent of the program. In addition, 20 airlines from Europe, Asia and the United States have joined as consultants in the development stage." Fish'in was killer,brookies,rainbow,and a couple of salmon(released'em),spent the night on the river,had some wicked t-storms...DD